“At about 1700 local time, Brazilian International Football embarked on the penultimate leg of its journey. What should have been a routine operation turned out to be a cataclysmic, unthinkable disaster.

“We are cross-referencing several threads of technical information. From what we can gather, everything started ok, but after 11 minutes it started to lose direction, then, after a series of rapid downward spirals, it was gone.

“We have detected 7 loud pings. One, then four in rapid section, then two. Finally there’s an almost inaudible, pathetic little ping-ette right at the end. Weird or what?

“It is possible that several, or all, of the crew members were not at their stations at crucial times. Or had simply fallen asleep. Collective suicide has not been ruled out.

“The has been talk of a salvage operation. But how do you salvage something that has vanished into thin air? Or into a luxury squad facility? Or whatever.”